Original scientific paper
POLICE SURVEILLANCE OF CROATIAN COMMUNITY IN THE UNITED STATES DURING WORLD WAR II
Jure Krišto
; Croatian Institute of History, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
Using the archival sources and the existing literature the paper presents how Federal Bureau of Investigation surveilled Croatian community in the United States during World War II. The existing archival documents show that Serb who worked as FBI informers often presented Croats as a threat to Western allies. FBI obviously accepted such Serb propaganda as a real threat to American national security and began the surveillance of all distinguished persons from the Croat community. Croatian journalists and various organizations of American Croats were also put under observation. At the same time American Croat community and its organizations were infiltrated by persons who supported communist ideas. Communist influence resulted in widespread support of American Croat community for Yugoslav partisans. Croatian catholic priests in the United States warned of a growing communist influence in the American Croat community. Their warning was rejected because they were often considered to be friendly to Axis powers and the Independent State of Croatia.
Keywords
World War II; American Croat community; communism; Croat-Serb relations
Hrčak ID:
101943
URI
Publication date:
20.10.2003.
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